Paralegal Jobs

Are you interested in becoming a paralegal? The work is certainly exciting as you get to get very near to the explosive courtroom setting and work closely with a lawyer who knows his or her stuff! Though paralegals cannot claim to be lawyers they can still claim to have steady work, a good salary and the thrill of knowing they are one working part of the legal system. You're probably wondering about the outlook for paralegal jobs in the United States. The first thing to realize is that paralegal jobs are based upon the size and success of individual lawyers and their law firms.

In the year 2006, paralegals held about 238,000 jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Seven out of ten paralegal workers were employed by private law firms. Fewer paralegals worked for lawyers who represent corporations or governmental offices. While a few paralegals actually venture out on their own and advertise their services to lawyers, most are directly hired by a lawyer.

What can you expect of paralegal jobs in the near future? Competition will always be a factor here, since the job market has always been competitive, and even more so now in a troubled economy. The overall career outlook suggests formally trained paralegals have the best chance of being hired by a major lawyer in a metropolitan area.

Despite the economic downswing, paralegal jobs are expected to grow consistently at least until the year 2016, which is a faster rate than most other occupations. Why is this? It's very possible that employers themselves are attempting to minimize costs and thus are looking to hiring paralegals to replace minor tasks once performed by lawyers. That's right, though law firms remain the best place to work as a paralegal, you can also be hired by corporations, insurance companies, real estate businesses and banks.

Well-qualified paralegals that are willing to perform a much wider list of duties will be deemed the most useful. The legal industry as a whole continues to grow even in a troubled economy, thanks to such areas as intellectual property (given the acceleration of the Internet), international law and criminal law. It is possible that the recession will affect the job market to a small extent. For example, in a recession, some companies will avoid initiating certain types of litigation and this will indirectly affect the work of paralegals. However, any effect would be minimal compared to the overall projection that suggests paralegal jobs are promising in this day and age.